The present invention relates to an improved device for attracting mosquitoes to insect trapping devices.
The most popular insect trapping devices currently in use are those which employ ultraviolet light sources to attract mosquitoes into contact with electrically charged killing grids. Experience has indicated, however, that the efficiency of such devices in reducing mosquito populations varies widely depending on a number of factors. For example, during daylight hours, ultraviolet light is largely ineffective as a source of attraction. Moreover, each geographic area has its own complex of mosquito species, some of which are attracted to light only at specific ages. Thus, under certain conditions, the conventional insect trapping devices may be only marginally effective.
The present invention dramatically improves the efficiency of conventional insect trapping devices by adding a second attractive source in the form of a generator designed to produce carbon dioxide, heat and moisture in amounts sufficient to attract a wide variety of mosquito species during both daylight and nighttime conditions. In a preferred embodiment to be described hereinafter in more detail, the generator of the present invention combusts a gaseous fuel in the presence of air in an exothermic reaction which is sustained catalytically. Tests have indicated that the combination of both sources of attraction, i.e., ultraviolet light with carbon dioxide, dramatically increases the number and varieties of trapped mosquitoes.